


burned applesauce & bookcases

by onthighsbelongtotaemin



Category: EXO (Band), SHINee
Genre: Asexual Character, Asexual Relationship, Brothers, Friendship, Humor, Love Confessions, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, Tricksters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-31
Updated: 2017-05-31
Packaged: 2018-11-07 11:45:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11058264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onthighsbelongtotaemin/pseuds/onthighsbelongtotaemin
Summary: jongin & taemin are in love with each other & watching them pine over each other has gotten on their friends’ last & final nerves leading to a plan so diabolical it cannot help but succeed.





	burned applesauce & bookcases

“taemin really seems to have a thing for jongin.”

minho looks up from where he’s kneeling on the bed, eyebrow raised as he slips his lips off jinki’s dick, stroking languidly with one hand.

“you really want to talk about that now?”  jinki glances at the door & the muted sound of a video game being played in the front room.

“if we could get him out of the apartment more often we wouldn’t have to be so quiet.”

“should have just given him quarters & sent him to the arcade,” minho murmurs, moving his head back down.

“they’re shutting it down.”  jinki hisses when minho’s hand stops & snorts when he sees the look of horror on his boyfriend’s face.

“what?!  why?!”  jinki leans forward & taps minho under his chin.

“you really want to talk about that now?”  minho chuckles as he blows on jinki’s dick in his hand, watching with a grin as his boyfriend’s eyelashes flutter, lips parting to let out a groan of satisfaction.  he moves back down, ass swinging in the air.

“maybe not.”

~

“it’s just...ugh...if they...talked....mmm...they could...fuck...stop pouting at each other &...yes!...maybe he could even...ugh...he could even...even move out.”  minho rolled his eyes, fingers clutching at jinki’s back & ankles holding him tight at the waist.

“he’s not...not leaving...mmm...jinki...let the...fuck...let the dream...let it die.  fuck!”  the little nibble at minho’s shoulder earned jinki a retaliatory smack on the shoulder & a little laugh that echoed in his ear.  the action had jinki shifting & minho moaning as his back arched in delight.

~

“they really should talk.  they’ve been pouting at each other for months.”  minho nodded as he scrubbed his hair, moving out of the shower’s spray so that jinki could rinse off his back.

“just don’t think taemin getting a boyfriend will make him leave, ok?  don’t put that pressure on him.”  jinki’s eyes opened & he looked over at minho with confusion.

“what?”

“you said he could move out.”

“oh.  no, i didn’t mean...maybe we should just get a different place.  a split level or a duplex.  something where we could share a yard but not a kitchen.”  minho laughed as they switched places, the stream of hot water now pouring over his head.

“he’s not that messy.”  jinki raised a brow.

“he burned applesauce.”

“...i’ll look on craigslist.”

~

thursday night means karaoke & taemin & jongin watching each other when the other isn’t looking.  tonight, it’s kibum up on stage with a mic in hand & minho watches taemin watching jongin watching kibum.  his brother sighs, fidgeting with his bracelet, eyes falling briefly to the table.  suddenly his hand drops & minho feels the warmth of a palm on his thigh petting the denim absently in a way minho’s familiar with, slowing until only a thin finger scratches just above his knee.

taemin flashes him a quick smile & says “kibum looks amazing tonight” before turning to watch their friend on the stage.  minho watches taemin a moment longer before looking up at kibum himself.  jet black hair & sultry eye liner, a leather jacket & a dozen silver studs shimmering in the stage light: amazing doesn’t begin to describe it. 

minho doesn’t recognize the song but it doesn’t matter because every performance kibum puts on is dynamic & if it weren’t for the way taemin was watching jongin watching kibum it would be perfect.  his brother sighs again & his finger stills.

afterwards, as kibum makes his way down the stage, minho watches taemin watch as jongin jumps up & hugs kibum tight, a shy smile on the other’s face as he pats jongin on the arm before joining their table.

kibum sits beside taemin at one end of their crescent shaped booth & jongin sits back down next to jinki, throwing his arm around the other’s shoulders & tapping his fingers against his arm.  minho listens from the center of the group as jongin begins telling the two of them about a song he’s currently writing, lyrics that speak of unrequited love & admiration from afar.

minho squeezes jinki’s hand beneath the table & jinki tilts his chin & squeezes back.

out of the corner of his eye, minho watches a kibum begins peppering taemin with questions that his brother nods to, bright smile & laughter making his eyes crinkle in response.  the sadness that flickers across jongin’s face does not go unmissed when taemin hugs kibum tightly as they begin to leave, & neither does taemin’s pout when jongin wraps his arms around jinki in farewell.  he leans into jongin’s quick side-hug, eyes cast down with a shy smile & the two wave awkward farewells to each other while the three give each other pointed looks.

~

“so...taemin.”  jinki rolls his eyes as minho inches forward, regretting the decision to pick up drive-thru if the line is going to be this slow.  the glow of the fast food signs shine bright in the inky night & his stomach rumbles, reminding him why they’re there in the first place.  taemin shifts where he sits in the middle of the backseat, arms crossed tight against his chest as he looks up to where his brother is watching him in the rearview mirror.

“minho.”

“anything on your mind?”

“other than that i’m literally three minutes away from passing out from hunger?”  minho’s eyes narrow slightly & jinki’s wondering just how many burgers he could conceivably eat without making himself sick.  three?

“interesting.  anything else?”

“regret for not fighting harder for the front seat so that i wouldn’t be trapped back here while you take your sweet time getting to the damn point.”  minho’s smile is tight & jinki’s beginning to regret his seat choice too.

“...anything else?”

“i want a milkshake.”

“taemin.”

“minho.”  minho’s gaze drops from the mirror with a sigh, eyes fixed out the front window at the line of cars before them & hands on the wheel.  they move another six inches & then suddenly jinki’s ducking, minho moving to turn around so fast that he’s nearly hit.

“you’ve got three cars to talk, lee taemin!  speak up or that milkshake is nothing but a memory!”  the brothers glare at each other & jinki’s tummy rumbles.

“about what?!”

“taemin you like jongin!”

“& milk shakes!  what’s your point?!”  taemin shifts again, arms tighter & while his tone is confident his eyes are not, watching minho a little too guarded to be at ease.

“you need to tell him.”

“that i like milkshakes?”

“they do bring all the boys to the yard.”  the pair glare at jinki who only smiles weakly.

“taemin.”

“minho.”

“taemin you’re not getting any food until you talk about this.”

“what?”

“what?!”  jinki repeats & turns to his boyfriend in a hunger-induced panic.

“jinki & i will eat our food in this car with you locked in if that’s what it takes.”  the little sigh of relief that blows through jinki’s lips earns him a glare from the passenger in the back.

“taemin,” jinki says, turning around to face him, “dude.  bro.  i am HUNGRY.  just talk it out.  please.  there’s extra fries in it for you.”  taemin huffs & turns to glare out the window.

“cheese fries?”

“ok.”

“extra-large.”

“sure.”

“damn you.”  jinki sits back satisfied while minho’s fingers begin to tap at the wheel.

“so?”

“what?”

“talk about it.”

“talk about what?”  the car jerks forward three feet & then stops & jinki only just manages to brace himself against the dashboard.

“for god’s sake, taemin!”  taemin leans forward, hands braced on his seat & a sad frown pulling at his lips.

“look.  if he was in any way interested he would have made a move by now, right?  jongin’s not shy.  for fuck’s sake, he shows more interest in jinki than with me & he knows jinki’s mono.  there’s no way i’m even on his radar.”  minho opens his mouth & taemin cuts him off before he can speak.  “before you say some cliché garbage about ‘you’ll never know unless you ask’ think about the last time that i did ask.  remember what happened?  i’d rather have jongin as a friend if it means he’ll still be in my life.  so just leave me with my unrequited love, ok?”  he plops back into his seat, arms folding again across his chest & eyes staring out the window.  jinki glances over at minho whose frown has softened into regret as they move forward.

they pull up to the intercom & minho parks the car, engine still running, & stares at the wheel.  jinki pats his wrist softly & tilts his head toward the menu, reminding him that he needs to order.  the cheery voice that crackles through the speaker asks if they’d like to hear about the day’s specials & minho’s nearing the end of the order when taemin murmurs from the backseat.

“don’t forget the fries”.

~

“those two have to get together i swear to fucking god.”  the door bangs shut & minho keeps his eyes on the television, head in jinki’s lap & he’s not moving for anything.  the ride back from the drive-thru had been tense, the silence filled mostly with the crinkle of the paper bags beneath taemin’s fingers.  jinki had made a few attempts at humor, little groans from the brothers as they were distracted in moments from the memory minho hadn’t intended to remind any of them of.  they pulled in & taemin grabbed his bag & left, muttering something about going for a walk to “get some air”, choosing to be alone in the swelter of a muggy summer night than with his brother in the cool of the apartment’s air conditioning.  minho had watched him go & it took jinki tugging at his wrist to turn back to unlock the door.

“hello to you too, kibum,” jinki replies from his perch at the edge of the sofa.  one hand is combing through minho’s hair & the other is at his boyfriend’s shoulder.  kibum kicks off his shoes & glances down the hall.

“where’s taemin?”

“out for a walk.”  without speaking, kibum turns back to the door & flips all the locks.

“what are you doing?!” minho yells, beginning to sit up but falling back easily against jinki’s thigh under the gentle pressure of the other’s hand.

“giving us time.  because seriously,” kibum says as he storms over to the television & turns it off, earning a glare from minho, “it’s getting to be too much.  we stayed at the bar another hour & jongin spent most of it bemoaning his empty love life.  so i asked him how much longer he was going to go not telling taemin that he was in love with him.  even tried to get him to laugh by saying that he was getting wrinkles from all the sad puppy eyes & that i’m not paying for any botox.”  jinki snorted from the sofa.  “thank you.”

“what did he say?”

“he said that as long as taemin wasn’t interested he wasn’t going to say anything.  fuck if it didn’t take everything in my power not to shove him off the damn stool.”

“why doesn’t he think taemin’s interested?” minho asks curiously.  kibum catches the shift in tone & glances over at jinki whose expression mirrors his boyfriend’s.

“he says it’s because taemin doesn’t really touch him.”  minho glances at jinki & then frowns at kibum in confusion.

“taemin barely touches anyone.”

“yeah, i know.  that’s what i told him.  but you know how jongin is.  hugs for everyone.  & taemin rebuffed him enough times that he’s now certain that it’s him & not just that taemin needs his space.”

“ok but it’s been six months.  you’d think he’d figure out by now that it’s not just him.”  kibum sighs & throws minho’s feet off the end of the sofa, flopping down into the now-empty space & fighting with minho who puts his displaced feet onto his lap.  a quick tickle of bare feet leaves him victorious.

“part of me thinks he’s just more comfortable thinking it’s a one-sided romance than making the effort to make a relationship.  but you know what he’s been through.  i think he would be devastated to say anything & then have the man he loves laugh in his face.  or their relationship end up so awkward that they couldn’t even be friends anymore.”

“yeah.  that’s pretty much what taemin said on the ride home.”  kibum sighed & let his head rest against the back of the sofa.

“they really need to talk.”

“yeah.  any ideas?”

“no,” minho replied, eyes on the floor.  “well, kind of.  i guess.  we were actually talking about it earlier this week & i’ve actually been looking up the plots of rom coms for inspiration.”  kibum stared at minho incredulously.

“why?”

“not everyone can find love on grindr, kibum,” jinki replied with a straight face, smiling when kibum’s eyes closed & he groaned.

“please stop reminding me of how you two met.”

“anyway,” minho interjected, giving jinki a pointed look, “working on the ‘friends to lovers’ theme is giving me some ideas.  usually there’s some fight over something trivial that results in an accidental declaration of love & then they live happily ever after.”

“those usually entail a lot of kissing & implied sexual interactions,” kibum points out.

“yes.  which is part of the problem.  such a constrictive narrative.  & none of it applies to my ace brother with sensory issues.  but i did think of something, a universal cause for confrontation that should work with our guys.”

“what is it?”

“putting together a bookshelf.” 

“ooohhh...”  kibum’s eyes widened in delight.

“without the instructions.”

“min!”  jinki exclaimed, slapping his boyfriend on the shoulder.

“right?”

“diabolical,” kibum agreed. “they’re either going to come out of this as sworn enemies or with declarations of love & either way at least jongin will stop looking like a lost puppy.”

“...i mean-”

“at taemin.  he’ll stop looking at taemin like a lost puppy.”

“& taemin will stop pouting.”

“...i mean-”

“about jongin.  taemin will stop pouting about jongin.” 

“mwahahaha!”  kibum sighed as minho laughed & patted his boyfriend’s knee.

~

“so where’s minho?” jongin asks, glancing around the empty apartment nervously.

“not sure.  jinki’s down the hall on a conference call & he’ll join us as soon as he’s done.”

“ok.  so...let’s get started?”  taemin shrugs & looks down at the pile of wood, plastic & metal.  “um...i’m looking for a screw cover thing.  white plastic?  it’s supposed to go over the screw before it’s...screwed in.”

“like a screw condom?”  jongin swallows & his chest burns, especially when taemin’s still looking at the pile & doesn’t seem to realize what that sounded like.

“i guess?  to protect the wood.”  taemin nods.

“a screw condom.”

“sure.  there should be four.”  taemin looks down at the pile & counts silently.

“i count three,” he says looking up.  “maybe one of our dudes will have to go in unsheathed.”  jongin shakes his head.

“that’s not good for the wood...or our...dude.” 

“it’s just a bookcase.”

“yes but it’s your brother’s bookcase & i actually like minho.”  taemin turns, crossing his arms.

“he’s with jinki.”

“...yes?” 

taemin shrugs & mutters “so you shouldn’t like him.”

“why?”

“he’s mono.”  jongin laughs.

“as a friend, taemin.  he’s my best friend.”  taemin huffs, scowling.  “what?”

“so i’m the brother of your best friend?”  jongin leans back, confused.

“yes?”

“really?”

“what?”

“let’s just put the goddamn bookcase together, jongin.  then you can leave & you won’t have to deal with your best friend’s little brother anymore.”  jongin frowns at the sudden turn.

“you’re my friend too, taeminnie.”

“the bookcase, jongin.”  taemin’s back is to him now, arms still crossed. 

jongin rolls his eyes & mutters, “i swear if i didn’t love you so much i’d just leave.”

“if you didn’t what?”  jongin swallows watching taemin who’s now watching him.  they stand in silence while jongin tries to figure out why his tongue betrayed him.  it’s out now & he can’t take it back but he can pretend it didn’t happen, crossing his fingers behind his back as he asks, “what?”

“what did you say?”

“when?”

“kim jongin what the fuck did you just say?”

“fine, lee taemin.  i’m fucking in love with you.  happy now?”

“yes.”  the swiftness of taemin’s response throws him for a loop & he nearly falls over.

“what?”

“yes i’m happy.  i’m in love with you too.”

“what?!”

“what?”  jongin has his head in his hands & he’s still trying to catch his breath.   

“but you...you never...you...what?” 

“what?”  at least now taemin looks as confused as jongin feels.

“taemin what is happening?”

“we’re confessing our mutual love for each other.”

“ok...ok.”  jongin nods because yes, that’s what seems to be happening but it’s too surreal to be true & maybe he’s not awake.  he pinches himself on the arm & then yelps when taemin pinches him too.

“yes, you’re awake.”

“since when?”

“since...you woke up this morning?”

“no.  since when have you been in love with me?”

“oh that,” taemin replies, tilting his head to the side in thought.  “since like january?”

“ok...”

“yeah you were singing this song to kibum & the light hit you so that you looked ethereal & it just...something clicked & i fell in love.”

“january?  do you mean jinki’s surprise party for me?”

“yep.  a week after your birthday.  you were definitely surprised.”

“well it was a week later,” jongin huffed.

“you still cried.”

“i was surprised!”

“i love you even though you cry at everything.”

“shut up.”  taemin just smiles & wiggles his head.

“what about you?  when did you fall in love with me?”

“same day.” 

“really?”

“yes.  you smiled & you gave me a hug & you never give me hugs & then you laughed & it was the most beautiful sound & i just fell in love.”  taemin frowns.

“i give you hugs.”

“no you don’t.”

“yes i do.”

“no you don’t.”

“yes i do.”

“no, taemin.  i give you hugs.”

“yes.”

“that’s not the same.”

“how is it not the same?”

“are you serious?”

“yes.”

“one is active & one is passive.”

“it’s all touching.”  jongin shrugs.

“i guess but...you’re always hanging on jinki or kibum & you never do that with me.”  taemin’s head tilts & he doesn’t understand what jongin doesn’t understand.

“they’re my best friends.”

“sure.”

“you like hugging people.”

“yeah?”

“i don’t.”

“oh.”

“we still hug.”

“no, taemin, i hug you.  i hug you the most & you hug me the least.”

“you hug kibum the most.”  jongin purses his lips because that’s actually true but-

“you’re a close second.”

“barely.  do you have any idea how much hugging you do?  & you don’t even hug me like you hug everyone else: you put your arm around me.”

“i didn’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

“you don’t think having someone hanging their arm around my neck isn’t uncomfortable?”  now it’s jongin’s turn to frown.

“if you didn’t like it why didn’t you say something?”

“because i’m in love with you,” taemin states as though it were obvious.  “besides, how was i supposed to know when you smile at everyone?  you never acted like i was special.”  jongin scoffs.

“i went shopping with you!”

“you went shopping with kibum too!”

“i bit you!”

“you bite kibum!”  jongin grins.

“maybe i’m actually in love with kibum,” he teases.

“oh i definitely am,” taemin replies, laughing as jongin visibly deflates.  he smacks him on the arm as he continues, “that doesn’t mean i’m not in love with you too.”  another laugh as jongin puffs back up, silly grin on his face.

“really?”

“yeah.”

“ok.”  they watch each other, little smiles & shy sways.  jongin takes a risk & asks, “can i kiss you?”

“i don’t know, can you?”  jongin just rolls his eyes & sighs & wonders why he had to fall in love with such a twerp.

“may i?”

“may you what?”

“lee taemin may i kiss you?”

“yes.”  he begins to lean in & taemin is too & their eyes are closing & their breaths are mingling & they’re almost there when-

“so have you confessed your undying love yet?”  they each jump at the sudden appearance of jinki with a sweet roll leaning against the doorway & smiling mischievously.  he takes an enormous bite that fills his cheeks as he wiggles his eyebrows at the pair.  in the confusion, they’ve grabbed each other by the shoulders & jongin smiles because taemin hasn’t let go.

“yes.  just now.”

“good,” is muffled around the bite & jinki winks as he heads back down the hall.  jongin & taemin turn back to each other, the mood somewhat broken but also invigorated & they kiss they give one another now carries with it mirth as well as hope.

~

jinki’s on the stage, eyes closed & mic gripped in one hand, the other slightly behind his hip.  minho’s watching, entranced, chin resting on the top of laced fingers & the grin that taemin understands but that still rolls his eyes at playing at his lips & lighting up his eyes.  jongin has his arm around him & around taemin & taemin has a hand on kibum’s thigh as he leans against jongin’s shoulder.

**Author's Note:**

> the story was originally written as a different pairing that i hate so i switched it to taekai which i love. so if it feels a bit bumpy or odd in places that's why. #teamtaekai


End file.
